1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to notebook accessories and, more particularly, to a writing platform apparatus and method for elevating pages within a looseleaf notebook.
2. The prior Art
Notebooks of various looseleaf varieties have been known for decades. These notebooks are used for numerous purposes although the primary purpose, as the name "notebook" implies, is that of recording handwritten notes. One especially popular form of looseleaf notebook is a personal calendar/notebook combination commonly referred to as a "day planner". The usual format for a day planner is that it includes a separate page for each day of the year with each page segregated into hourly blocks along with an area for notes, reminders, expenditures, and the like. A separate section of the day planner includes a series of alphabetically arranged pages for use as a directory.
Clearly, the inherent value of such a looseleaf notebook is through regular usage by the owner. This means that the person using the looseleaf notebook should write in the notebook on a regular basis. However, it is well known that a notebook with a substantial number of pages represents a difficult writing surface due to the inherent nature of the looseleaf notebook. In particular, the pages held by the ring binder will vary greatly in thickness depending upon which page is to be written upon and also which side of the particular page is being used. These problems are particularly exacerbated by the fact that day planners are specifically configured to be as compact as possible for purposes of handling convenience. The result is that considerable distortion of the pages is encountered making writing on them particularly awkward. Further, depending upon which side of the page is being written upon and the thickness of the total number of pages underneath this particular page, writing in a notebook is quite cumbersome to the extent that many people become discouraged and do not write in the day planner as much as they should.
Perhaps the most serious difficulty is encountered when the writer must place his or her writing hand across the rings of the ring binder of the notebook. This is particularly troublesome for persons who write left handed on the right side of the notebook because of the nature of the hand position assumed while writing. Customarily, the left-handed person holds the writing hand above the area being written upon. The fingers holding the writing implement are curved downwardly toward the wrist. This writing position is adopted to enable the writer to be able to visually observe what is being written. In other words, the left-handed writer writes on a page from above which means that the forearm and wrist, at the minimum, are forced to contend with the ring binder while writing on the right side of the page. Correspondingly, the person writing with the right hand on the left side of the notebook encounters the ringbinder with the right hand as the page is written on from left to right. This means that a person writing on a page in close proximity to the rings of the ring binder encounters interference with the writing hand or wrist being brought into proximity with the ring binder.
An alternative solution to these problems is to remove the particular page from the notebook and place it upon a separate, support surface for writing. This is awkward particularly if no suitable support surface is conveniently available. Further, opening the looseleaf binder to remove a specific page to be written upon momentarily releases the remaining pages so that they can become loose and even fall out of the notebook. Accordingly, a person who uses the day planner on a consistent basis is required to write on pages that are not adequately supported on a suitable writing surface.
Various prior art devices are known for use in combination with notebooks. One such device is that of Jackel (German Patent No. 329,002) which is a page support system for a looseleaf notebook. The support system is used to elevate the outer edges of the pages above the inner edges apparently for the purpose of making the pages easier to read. Nothing in this reference is directed toward making the pages easier to be written upon.
Similar devices for elevating the outer edge of the pages are shown in the references of Sanabria (U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,327); Neilson (U.S. Pat. No. 2,309,474); and Elsden (German Patent No. 812,308).
Easel-type page support systems are shown by Jacobson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,761); Cirigliano (U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,482); and Gallo (French Patent No. 1,570,581).
Chinchar (U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,309) discloses a pad for a looseleaf notebook, the pad having an extended margin strip engageable with the rings of the looseleaf notebook.
In view of the foregoing it would be a significant advancement in the art to provide a writing surface for pages in a looseleaf notebook. It would also be an advancement in the art to provide a support surface for pages of a looseleaf notebook whereby the support surface can be selectively elevated to at least one of a plurality of elevated positions to support pages to be written upon and lowered into a flat, relatively unobtrusive position for storage. Such a novel apparatus and method is disclosed and claimed herein.